1. Technical Field
The present device is a device for assisting a driver in parking a vehicle in a vehicle shelter. More particularly, a driver can pull an automobile or other vehicle into proper parking position in a parking space in a garage or carport by visually spot checking this device, which remains affixed to the ceiling or other wall of the vehicle shelter.
2. Background Information
It seems to be the nature of man to accumulate goods. Homeowners therefore seem to be on a perennial quest for storage space. A favorite location for storing the accumulation of goods, including bicycles, lawn mowers, and boxes of holiday decorations, is the garage. With minimal space left in the carport or garage for the family vehicle(s), fitting the car in the garage without damaging the car, the goods, or the garage can be a problem. The problem is more severe for certain garages and for certain drivers. In some garages, particularly those which are built adjacent to newer houses, the garage door will not close behind the car unless the front of the car is in close proximity to the garage wall. Particularly in some allegedly two-car garages, the inconvenience is so great that one or both drivers often elect to leave the car outside the garage.
The problem also exists in carports or garages which accommodate multiple vehicles. Often apartment complexes, for example, will have one long carport with a parking space for each apartment. In shelters for multiple vehicles, the problem is exaggerated by increased traffic into and out of the parking spaces and by the possibility that the car being parked ineptly may strike the car, wall, or pole on either side of the parking space.
Homeowners and renters have devised many creative but often insufficient remedies for this problem. For example, some homeowners employ a string with a tennis ball attached to the end. The string is suspended from the garage ceiling so that the tennis ball strikes the front windshield of the car when the car has rolled to the selected point. This homemade device indicates a stop line, but does not indicate whether the car has been parked in a slanted position in the parking space. Various barrier systems, guide systems, and distance gauges have attempted to address this problem.